Original title: Effects of poverty on impatience: preferences or inattention?
Authors: Bartoš, V. ; Bauer, Michal ; Chytilová, Julie ; Levely, I.
Document type: Research reports
Year: 2018
Language: eng
Series: CERGE-EI Working Paper Series, volume: 623
Abstract: We study two psychological channels how poverty may increase impatient behavior – an effect\non time preference and reduced attention. We measured discount rates among Ugandan farmers\nwho made decisions about when to enjoy entertainment instead of working. We find that\nexperimentally induced thoughts about poverty-related problems increase the preference to\nconsume entertainment early and delay work. The effect is equivalent to a 27 p.p. increase in\nthe intertemporal rate of substitution. Using monitoring tools similar to eye tracking, a novel\nfeature for this subject pool, we show this effect is not due to a lower ability to sustain attention.
Keywords: poverty; scarcity; time discounting
Project no.: GA17-13869S (CEP)
Funding provider: GA ČR

Institution: Economics Institute AS ČR (web)
Document availability information: Fulltext is available at external website.
External URL: https://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp623.pdf
Original record: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0286602

Permalink: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-386535


The record appears in these collections:
Research > Institutes ASCR > Economics Institute
Reports > Research reports